If you have old Google accounts you want to keep, you should take action now. Google will begin deleting inactive accounts and everything stored in them, such as emails, photos, calendar events, contacts, videos on YouTube, and documents in Drive, starting this week on December 1.
An inactive Google account might be one you made for things like getting newsletters through Gmail, reading online forums, or shopping on a website where you didn’t want to use your main email. It's a way to stay anonymous or dodge spam emails.
If you want to keep your old Google accounts safe from being deleted, here's what you can do to stop Google from removing them starting in December. You can also learn about logging into Google with a passkey and find helpful Gmail tips and tools you can use every day.
If an account hasn't been used for a while, Google said, it's more likely to be compromised: "This is because forgotten or unattended accounts often rely on old or re-used passwords that may have been compromised, haven't had two factor authentication set up, and receive fewer security checks by the user," Google said.
Google mentioned that starting in December, if you haven't used or logged into your account for two years, they might delete it along with everything inside. So, if you haven't used an account since 2021, Google might remove it.
If you're concerned about someone taking your old deleted account, Google assured that if they delete an inactive account, the email address associated with that account can't be used again to make a new Google account.
Starting this week, on December 1st, Google will begin deleting accounts. They promised to send reminder emails to both your main email and recovery email at least eight months before they delete anything. These reminders will warn you about the possible deletion ahead of time.
Keeping your older Google accounts safe isn't hard. Just log in once every two years. If you're unsure, it's a good idea to do it now.
Doing things like checking or sending emails, using Google Drive, watching YouTube, getting apps from the Google Play Store, doing searches on Google, or using your Google account to sign in elsewhere—these all count as activity to keep your account active. If you've got subscriptions tied to your Google account, like Google One, a news service, or an app, that also counts as activity.
Also, this deleting rule only applies to personal Google accounts, not business or school ones.
If you think you have an old Google account but can't recall the details, there might be a way to get it back, depending on what you forgot. I managed to recover two old accounts using this method.
If you forgot your password, you can try using Google's password recovery tool. They'll ask you some questions to make sure it's your account.
Forgetting your email address? You might be able to recover it using Google's account recovery tool. You'll need a phone number or another email address linked to that account. If you get stuck, Google has advice on what to do next.
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